Vessel marker and retrieval systems are known and by way of example, reference may be had to the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 526,959 issued Oct. 2, 1894 to E. M. Arnold; 1,331,014 issued Feb. 17, 1920 to P. Kawinski; 1,198,738 issued Sept. 19, 1916 to O. Maneval; 1,404,921 issued Jan. 31, 1922 to J. M. Adams; 1,177,889 issued Apr. 4, 1916 to C. F. Ostergren; 2,347,690 issued May 2, 1944 to W. K. Kannenberg; 2,641,780 issued June 16, 1953 to C. B. Brown et al; 1,142,768 issued June 8, 1915 to J. Barraja-Frauenfelder; 2,373,502 issued Apr. 10, 1945 to J. F. Prows; 1,412,202 issued Apr. 11, 1922 to J. M. Adams; 1,256,365 issued Feb. 12, 1918 to E. H. Pettit; 3,853,082 issued Dec. 10, 1974 to Rosenberg et al; 3,822,660 issued July 9, 1974 to G. Throner, Jr.; 2,320,948 issued June 1, 1943 to C. T. Marthey; 2,058,708 issued Oct. 27, 1936 to S. Minio; and 2,338,067 issued Dec. 28, 1943 to N. E. Wicklow. Canadian Patents 185,212 issued July 2, 1918 to W. A. Blakesley; 175,081 issued Feb. 13, 1917 to James Stafford; 195,073 issued Dec. 16, 1919 to C. Cheney et al.
The sunken vessel locator and raising systems disclosed in the foregoing typically include (e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 1,331,014), a float, a tag line paid out from a reel and connected to the sunken vessel by way of a coupling anchored to the vessel. Retrieval of the sunken vessel is by way of a winch line from a rescue boat that slides down on the line attached to the float and automatically engages means securely anchored to the vessel. Typically (U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,331,014; 2,347,690) the reel from which the float line is paid out is mounted on the vessel. The only exception to this in the foregoing art is the above-mentioned U.S. Pat. No. 2,058,708 where the reel is mounted in the float.
The systems disclosed in the foregoing art are generally cumbersome and complicated and dedicated to a particular vessel.
A principle object of the present invention is to provide a retrieval system which is self-contained, portable and readily mountable on any vessel without requiring modifications to the latter or attachable to any object having a lift point and readily transferrable from one object to another.
Further objects of the present invention are to provide:
(a) a standard for the industry with a view to reducing insurance claims;
(b) a reliable, simple and convenient transferrable and reusable rescue system; and/or
(c) a sunken vessel or object marker and retrieval system that is simple and symmetrical in many respects such that operability is assured.
In keeping with the foregoing there is provided apparatus for use in association with a vessel or water transported objects to facilitate locating and raising the same should it become sunken, said apparatus comprising in combination a float body having an upper portion and a lower portion with the upper portion being of larger cross-sectional area than the lower portion, a recess in the bottom of said lower portion, a cable drum and located in said recess and journaled for rotation to pay out a line reeled thereon as the object to which it is attached sinks, a light duty tag line having one end attached to said reel and a knob on the other end, a heavy duty lifting cable secured at one end thereof to said knob and securable at the opposite end to a suitable and secure lift point(s) on the object, and a sleeve attachable to a sunken object retrieving line and freely slidable along the line portion payed out from said reel, said sleeve having a central passage for said tag line and knob attached thereto and two or more dogs movably mounted on said sleeve, said dogs being biased to project into said central passage for engaging said knob.